Death of innovation

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Author: JT Smith

CRN’s Frank J. Olhorst comments on the possible effects that nonperpetual software licensing — Office XP requiring a new license every three years for example — and the possible effect it will have on software innovation: “raditionally, an established
software vendor makes the brunt of its
profits from creating innovative products
that users desire, either as a new purchase
or as an upgrade.

The question now becomes, when a
software vendor is guaranteed ongoing
revenue from subscription-style licensing,
will that vendor bother to enhance its
products? From the bean counters’
standpoint, why exert the effort?”